Discount Deal

Universal Studios Florida Has Free Offer For Children

ORLANDO — Universal Studios Florida announced Monday that it would offer free admission Nov. 15 to Dec. 22 to each child accompanied by a paying adult.

The free admission will apply to all children ages 12 and under, whether the accompanying adult pays the regular adult admission of $31 or buys a discounted ticket at $22, available to Florida residents through the same period.

The prices do not include Florida`s sales tax of 6 percent.

The Orlando theme park typically charges $25 admission for children ages 3 to 9. Children younger than 3 are admitted free and children older than 9 pay adult admission.

Universal`s free admission offer for children is rare, although a key competitor, Walt Disney World near Orlando, also is touting a free offer for children. Disney`s offer allows children of Florida residents to enter Epcot Center free on the weekends of Nov. 30-Dec. 1 and Dec. 7-8. Children must be accompanied by a paying adult.

Still, Universal`s move was characterized as ``unusual`` by Greg Cory, a senior vice president at Economics Research Associates, a Los Angeles-based firm that does consulting work for the theme-park industry.

``I see it purely as a way of pulling in business during the off season,`` Cory said.

The period around Thanksgiving and before the year-end holiday season has historically been an awkward time for families to travel, so park attendance is slow, he said.

In Central Florida, fall is the slowest season of the year for hotels and attractions, with the first three weeks of December being the slowest time of all.

Universal, Cory said, probably ``can afford to give away a free admission because they`re hoping to boost revenue by drawing in adults who otherwise might not come. And during this slower time, they`ll have the capacity to service these people.``

Universal said the special admission is a way of celebrating the opening of its newest show, ``Fievel Goes West,`` a live musical review based on Steven Spielberg`s new animated feature film, ``An American Tail: Fievel Goes West,`` which is to open across the country Friday.

Randy Garfield, Universal`s executive vice president of marketing, acknowledged that ``we certainly wouldn`t have done this in the middle of the summer`` when crowds were very heavy.

``We wanted to expose the new show to as many kids as possible,`` and the promotion will allow the theme park ``to capitalize on a national

(advertising) campaign`` for the movie, Garfield said.

The musical revue will play at American Tails Theatre, near the Earthquake ride.

The Universal movie on which the Florida park will base its live revue stars a mouse, Fievel Mousekewitz, and his friends as they flee a band of marauding cats toward the Western United States.

Universal Studios Florida is jointly owned by MCA Inc. of Universal City, Calif., and the Rank Organisation of London.